MIE (TR) – On the evening of June 13, 1997, Yuko Kitayama, then 17, finished her part-time job and headed to a friend’s house to study. She was never heard from again.
The case remains unsolved, with police continuing to seek the help of the public.
On the morning of June 13 this year — the 28th anniversary of Kitayama’s disappearance — police officers handed out leaflets in front of Matsusaka Station and once again called for information in the case.
“We are continuing our investigation with the firm belief that she will be returned to his parents,” said Kazuto Saijo, the chief of the Matsusaka Police Station. “Please contact Matsusaka Police Station with any information you may have.”
But there was a time when they did have such information. What happened next was a chronicle of missed opportunities that no mainstream news outlets mentioned this past week.
Hello Kitty pager
Yuko, a third-year student at Matsusaka Technical High School, worked at a local juku cram school in Meiwacho. On the day of her disappearance, she was planning to study with the aforementioned friend after finishing work.
Her younger brother, three years younger than her, attended the same cram school, located near Saiku Station.
Her mother would usually take her brother to the cram school in a light truck. She would then take Yuko’s bicycle back to the house. Later, she would pick up both of them in a passenger car at around 8 p.m., and the three of them would return home together.
However, on the day of her disappearance, there was not enough gas in the light truck. As a result, Yuko was to return home alone by bicycle that day. As well, her family was aware of her plans to study for a test with the friend rather than returning home immediately.
After finishing her part-time job, she called the friend from a public phone near the town hall, about 200 meters from the cram school. She told her she would be there in about 10 minutes.
However, when Yuko had not shown up by 11:00 p.m., her friend called her home. Her family was surprised, as they had assumed she would be at the friend’s house. A search commenced. After they could not find her, they reported her missing with the Mie Prefectural Police at around 2:00 a.m. on June 14.
Yuko usually kept a Hello Kitty-themed pager in the inside pocket of her vest. Her family and friends, who had been informed of her disappearance, sent a message to her pager and waited for a response, but there was no reply.
Clothes, bicycle and bag never found
At the time of her disappearance, Yuko had short hair, a medium build and stood about 150 centimeters tall. She was wearing a white short-sleeved blouse, a black uniform vest, a black pleated skirt, loose white socks and black cloth shoes, size 23.5.
The navy blue bicycle she was riding had a Bridgestone T-shaped handlebar and was registered for theft prevention. Her contact information and name were written under the saddle.
Her black shoulder bag for commuting to school contained a light blue wallet, a commuter pass case, a yellow lunch box, a comb, scissors and a mirror.
The search for the surrounding area continued, but her clothes, bicycle and bag were never found.
“Why do you have Yuko’s pager?”
On the night of June 14, the day after her disappearance, Yuko’s home received two suspicious phone calls at around 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. In both cases, the caller hung up as soon as the calls were answered. Her family later consulted with police.
Shortly after Yuko’s disappearance, her friends sent messages to her pager with their home phone numbers so that she could contact them. However, there were no signs of an accident in the area. Therefore, it was decided not to give out contact information as there was a possibility that Yuko had been involved in an incident.
Sometime after June 16, a friend’s house also received a series of mysterious silent calls. The friend thought that the caller had seen the messages addressed to Yuko and was making silent calls. She tried to talk to him, but at first there was no response.
But one day, she asked, “Where is Yuko?” A man’s voice replied, “I don’t know her.” She then asked, “Why do you have Yuko’s pager?” He said, “I picked it up.”
“Why do you have Yuko’s pager?”
However, in subsequent phone calls, the man’s attitude changed, and he began to make different claims. “I took her to the station,” he said. He added, “She said she didn’t have any money, so I lent her 50,000 yen. I took her pager as collateral.”
The man then called her to Matsusaka Shopping Center MARM in Matsuzaka City. The friend accepted the invitation and told the police the situation.
On June 20, while police were secretly deployed, the friend and Yuko’s mother headed to the designated location. However, the man did not show up.
Five days later, he called the house of her friend again. He said, “I’ll give you Yuko’s pager back so come and get it.” She immediately rushed to the bus station to meet him, but only Yuko’s grey pager was there. Notably, the gold bell and Hello Kitty keychain were not attached.
Former offender
On June 27, the man called the friend’s house again. “Did you receive the pager?” he asked. He then hung up quickly.
Police traced the call to a public telephone in Ureshinocho, Mie Prefecture. They then took a man, age 46 at the time, in for voluntary questioning. He worked as a street vendor and lived nearby in Chayocho, Matsusaka City.
An analysis of the man’s voice and the calls made over the phone proved to be a match. As well, a white handkerchief with a blue pattern found in the man’s pocket was confirmed by Yuko’s family to be similar to one belonging to her. He was arrested the next day.
During the course of the investigation, it became clear that the man did not have a clear alibi for the time when the incident took place. As well, he also a former offender, who served 12 years in prison for sexual assault and robbery. His modus operandi was to hit women on bicycles with his car, committing indecent acts and stealing their belongings.
When the man’s station wagon was examined, part of the left turn signal was broken. Further, there was a dent in the bumper that appeared to have been caused by a collision. A Japanese-Chinese dictionary believed to be Yuko’s was found in the car. The dictionary had her friend’s pager number written inside.
Police increasingly suspected his vehicle used in a crime. They found more than 100 hairs and pieces of fiber inside.
Police also found receipts for using the Ise Futami Toba Line toll road in the car, which raised suspicions that he had been traveling long distances to destroy evidence. The man regularly used a gas station in Matsusaka City once a week. Around the time of Yuko’s disappearance, he filled up there on June 12, 15 and 17.
Insufficient evidence
Yuko had previously told a friend that she was scared because a suspicious man was following her. There was also a report of a white station wagon parked next to the public phone that she had used before her disappearance, which led police to increasingly believe likely that the man was involved.
However, the man said during questioning that the pager was lost property. He also said that he had called the pager several times after learning that the owner was a high school girl. He continued to deny and remained silent about the charges regarding Yuko, including kidnapping.
The man’s detention expired on July 18. He was released due to insufficient evidence.
